Easton Hospital completes renovations to ER

While hospitals all around the Lehigh Valley have been opening up facilities to be as close to their customers as possible, Easton Hospital is looking back to its home base for the latest sprucing up.

The hospital and representatives of Allentown construction company Alvin H. Butz are touting the completion of renovations to its emergency department at the hospital in Wilson Borough. The approximately $1.2 million job on 16,000 square feet was finished ahead of time, the company says.

"Butz was not only able to complete the original project faster than anticipated," says Terri Martis, director of facilities management at the hospital, "but also use savings realized from that project to provide additional work for us."

"The emergency department is the gateway to Easton Hospital," CEO John Zidansek says in a prepared statement. "Many of our patients begin their experience in our ER, so we want to ensure that the environment, the staff and the care are beyond measure."

Both the main entrance and patient registration areas were remodeled, as was the EMS entrance, it says. The nurses' station was expanded and glass doors were added to many patient bays.

The hospital focused on making the department senior citizen-friendly.

"Looking at demographics, the number of residents in our area who are 65 and older continues to grow," says Christine Biege, vice president of quality and support services. "It's a core population we serve, so we felt it was important to design with their needs in mind."

The renovations included several geriatric-friendly details, the hospital says: No-skid and no-glare flooring, softer lighting from ceiling fixtures, thicker mattress pads and color palettes that are less distracting for older eyes.

Butz also noted that other areas of the hospital got some attention — upgrades to dialysis, new room air pressure monitors and new fireproofing.